PARLIAMENT AT WORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12654, 7 September 1904, Page 6

PARLIAMENT AT WORK.

GALLERY NOTES AND LOBBY GOSSIP. [by telegraph.—sfecial correspondent.] Wellington, Tuesday. Mb. Withefoeo gave notice to-day to ask the Premier whether the Minister for Lands will bring in a Homestead Bill this session, to facilitate the settlement of the poorer Crown lands of the colony, provided that .he Leader of the Opposition agrees to support the passing of the Bill, and thus prove to the country that members act free from party feelings and prejudices, "and in harmony with the prayer so impressively read daily at the opening of the House by the Speaker. THE NEEDS OF THE NORTH. ill-. Houston supported the Premier's motion for a land commission to-day. If for nothing else, he said, the proposal for a commission would appeal to him because part of the duty of the commission would be to inquire into the administration of the law by the land boards. He urged that the local bodies should be given the administration of the land laws. An important, part of the commission's duty would be to inquire into the difference of "climate and soil in the various parts of the colony. He complained tnat all the land laws of the past had been framed by Southern men. To this day it was impossible for any man to occupy the runs in his district under the Land Act of 1892. He strongly supported the homestead system. THE BENEFITS OF TRAVEL. Since the House rose on Friday Mr. Jennings has been through his constituency. He told the House to-day that he had travelled 500 miles, and he found that most of the people of New Zealand had made up their minds on the land question. Having satisfied himself regarding the feeling of the country, Mr. Jennings proceeded to say that a commission is necessary, because there was too much party feeling attaching to the question in the House, and the commission would bring impartial minds to bear on the subject. WHAT MINISTERS PREFER. Mr. Moss, speaking to-night, said he would be satisfied to settle the land tenare question in accordance with the preference of Ministers. He would ask the Ministers, Which of you hold a leasehold"'" The answer would be r.oue. Then he would ask, "Which of you do not not hold a freehold?" And again the answer would be none. The late Sir John McKenzie did not show an inordinate desire for the leasehold when he went looking for a farm. The difference between the motion and amendment was that the amendment proposed to go to work at once, while the motion proposed delay for at least two years, and the expenditure of a large sum of money.

A FREEHOLDER'S RESERVATION. Mr. Lawry is strongly opposed to Crown tenants being granted the freehold of the land they occupy. Their only honest course if they "want the freehold, he says, is to surrender their lease, get value for their improvements, and let the man in the street compete with them on equal terms for the freehold. He looked upon the request of the settlers under the West Coast Native Land Settlement Act for the freehold as supreme audacity. It was the duty of a member to present any petition for a constituent, but if he had beta asked to present a petition for the freehold from those West Coast settlers he would have refused to do it, and was sure that he would not have violated political etiquette. Mr. T. Mackenzie: Are you in favour of the freehold? Mr. Lawry: I am in favour of any bargain, the State likes to make with its lessees. If Mr. Mackenzie will bring down a Bill providing that in future all lands be opened on the optional system of tenure I have no objection to supporting it. I believe the best tenure is the freehold, and I am prepared to give it. AUCKLAND LAND BOARD. Mr. Lawry replied to-night to what he described as a fuss about nothing made by the members of the Auckland Land Board. The criticisms made in the House regarding the Matamata ballot were, he said, right and just. He had a motion before the House for a return of all the papers- connected with the Matamnta ballot. He put that motion on the Order Paper at the request of members of the Auckland Land Board, who told him that if all the documents were laid before Parliament those who had adversely criticised the Board would "withdraw their criticisms..

AN INDEPENDENT OPPOSITIONIST. There is only one independent member on the Opposition benches, said Mr. Lawry, and that is the member for Eden. Mr. Bollard has always been straight and honest, and has declared that there is no possibility of compromise between him and the Government. Perhaps the member for Eden represents more Liberals than 1 do, and those Liberals support him in spite of his politics, because of his political honesty. If I were in Mr. Bollard's district, I would vote for him in spite of his politics. THE LAND DEBATE. The debate on the land question was confined to-day almost entirely to Government supporters. It might, in fact, have concluded to-night, but on the top of tomorrow's Order Paper is Mr. James Allen's Bill for a fresh poll in the Bruce electorate, and the Government are apparently unwilling to give the House an opportunity of discussing this question. The division will, in all probability, be taken tomorrow. A TRIP TO THE MOKATJ. Mr. Jennings has" arranged to take about a dozen members dl Parliament up the Mokau River. They leave on Saturday, going as far as Waitara that day, proceeding some 22 miles up the Mokau River on Sunday to the coal deposits, coming back to Inglewood, and going up Mount Egmont by coach on Monday, and returning to Wellington on Tuesday. The proposed trip to Taihape to open a section of the Main Trunk railway has been abandoned. JOTTINGS. Mr. Massey' urging the Minister for Railways to go on with the promised improvements at the Tuakau railway station. Mr. Withe-ford is urging the Government to favourably consider the placing of a sum upon the Supplementary Estimates for the Door of Hope Maternity Home, Auckland. Mr. Hemes is asking the Minister for Education whether the native school reserve at Galatea will be offered for lease in the usual way, either by public tender or public auction. The Wellington City Empowering Gasworks Bill (Mr. Aitken), and the Public Health Act Amendment Bill (Sir W. Steward) were read a first time in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr. Kirkbride has given notice to ask whether the Postmaster-General will reduce the amount of the guarantee asked for by the Department; and accede to the request of the settlers to connect Hunua with Papakura by telephone. In the Legislative Council to-day Mr. Reeves, in the absence of Mr. Fold , wick, moved the second reading of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ohristchurch Empowering Bill, which was agreed to. The Council then adjourned. Mr. Millar is asking the Premier what further steps, if any, have been taken by the Government to obtain reparation for the treatment of Kenneth Harper, a New Zealander, who was refused admission into America and placed in gaol in Honolulu.